Mu-so connected to television dull sound

Why are you disappointed? The Muso was never designed to be used as a soundbar!

I was told be the company that sold me my Mu-so that it could be used as a sound bar. I find the sound good but the volume is nearly on max. My tv is a Panasonic.

+1

The sales guy at John Lewis told me my TV could sit on top of the Muso.

 Sacre bluer! I'm sure the guys at R&D also had that in mind when the product was being developed. Some sellers will tell you anything in order to sell their fish! 

Is there anything I can do to improve the sound?

I have read many reviews that state the Muso can be used as a "sound bar"and in fact the Naim website lists  "Digital Input (Optical) - Boost audio from digital sources such as TVs, set topboxes or games consoles". 

I have not tried my Muso with a TV but it might be worth trying another digital source with optical out (Apple TV, CD etc) just to see how that sounds. If an alternative source sounds good it may be worth having a look through the Samsung manual in case it is pushing out some kind of Quasi surround sound or such like - that would sound like a car crash on the Muso. Although I think that is unlikely any TV would do that. 

Out of interest - is the source material 6ch or 2ch? Many TVs have an annoying trait of pushing out 2ch from their optical output - regardless of whether the source is 6ch or 2 ch. Possible that the fold down process is sounding messy on the Muso.

@harty601

thanks for your suggesties, i had a look at the  PCM/ dolby settings. That seems to be allright. I will have a look at the 2ch vs 6ch. Could be interesting. THanks for the suggestion

No worries, I hope you get it sorted. Will be interested to hear if you do and what the remedy ends up being. 

UK DVB Satellite carries seperate 2channel and optionally multichannel compressed sound tracks, and so depending on your what you have selected on your STB or TV the appropriate audio feed will be selected. On terrestrial DVB I haven't inspected the multiplexes and so don't know if these two formats are also present, but any attempt to create an MP2 stereo signal from an AAC/AC3 multichannel audio feed is going to sound pretty dire because of the lossy double encoding.

Simon

I had to change TV's from Sony to Samsung to get any sound over optical at all but my Muso sounds great with it.    The volume is variable from channel to channel which is annoying but the sound is excellent with a cheapo toslink cable.

After 10 months, I am becoming quite the Mu So warrior with the good tips around here.   I can stream Spotify and everything now.   I want to master UPnP with MinimServer and I will be ready to rock.   That may wait until Christmas when my help desk is home from school   Just stay at it and you will be surprised.  

I changed a few settings in the sound options of the Samsung television, paying attention to the 2ch vs 6ch options. Sound improved slightly though not overwhelming unfortunately. I'm afraid the quality of the Samsung might be due to the quality of sound I hear by Mu-so, although this Samsung belongs to the top range.

Check if the Samsung has variable output via optical. If so make sure you have the volume on the TV turned up or set it to a fixed level.

Have you read this?

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...-a-tv-or-set-top-box

It might explain your problem, although it won't solve it other than by persuading you to change either your TV or your Muso!

Thanks for your reactions!

@cdboy I'll check if the Samsung has variable output via optical.

@chrisSU PCM is indeed the option to choose. But my problem is not reduced volume but I find the sound itself is dull, treble is lacking. But anyway thank you for your reaction.

Hi Matthijs, have you tried the analogue input?

I appreciate you may need identify a suitable cable

I haven't tried the analogue output, I'll give it a try when I get home. Thanks!

I tried the analogue input, but no success unfortunately. I think the Samsung had to be checked. I happened to hear the same model that sounded much better. Everyone who was so kind to respond: thank you !

I tried the analogue input, but no success unfortunately. I think the Samsung has to be checked. I happened to hear the same model that sounded much better. Everyone who was so kind to respond: thank you !

I tried the analogue input, but no success unfortunately. I think the Samsung has to be checked. I happened to hear the same model that sounded much better. Everyone who was so kind to respond: thank you !

I've connected my sony tv via the headphone out (1/8") into my muso and the sound is incredible, so something must be wrong in your output settings. I haven't ever gotten round to trying optical out from the tv into the muso, because analogue sounds great!

I did wonder about this, check the TV audio settings as there may be a setting for either analogue or digital audio output (in all it's various flavours) but not both

The Muso is not a sound bar and I believe Phil Harris has confirmed that on this forum. For music I am sure all purchasers have been perfectly satisfied with this box but used with a television it is a compromise, at best. I knew all of this when I bought mine and linked it to my LG television and took quite some stick from my wife for its initial bugs and clunky connection controls. These have been mostly addressed and even my wife is quite happy with it. However, in its current construction, it is not and never will be a replacement for a sound bar.

I'll give the analogue input another try; I may have made a mistake.

I would not like the idea If the Mu-so would not give a proper sound when connected to my television. In Holland the Mu-so is advertised as a soundbar too......

As I mentioned previously, the naim website clearly states it can be used to "boost audio" from a TV. You should absolutely expect a decent stereo output from your TV through the Muso. I agree that it may not be a substitute for a good sound bar or indeed full 5.1 surround system - but you should see an improvement over the usual inbuilt speakers on a modern LCD set. 

If the website is incorrect and Phil has stated differently then i would suggest Naim update the website quickly as I'm sure many people would look at it as a one box solution they can play music on and run their TV through. More and more people have limited space now and look for convergence and convenience in their tech purchases. 

That said, I do not believe the website info to be incorrect - there is no reason why a muso is incapable of boosting sound from a TV.

I was not quite correct, the word soundbar was not used at the (Dutch) website. It stated, at the time I purchased the Mu-so, television sound is improved. As I said earlier the fact sound is not quite correct in my case could probably be due to a defect in my Samsung television. So far Naim is not blamed for anything.